What could bê holding team evil? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

torugo

2015-12-19, 07:43 PM

Purê speculation time.

We have an epic sorcerer, an almost epic priest, a powerful monster in the darkness and some roaches going tô the last gate. This time xykon seemed tô mean it. No distractions.

Só what power could bê keeping them this entire ark?

We Know the Last gate is protected by might and monsters. Last time xykon faced an epic dungeon it seemed easy for him. Wild guesses are open for what is holding them.

Wildroses

2015-12-19, 07:58 PM

In a way I think you have answered your question. It's being guarded by monsters, some of the mightiest monsters from all over the world and 'last time' is not 'this time'. Serini knew she would not be personally there to protect the gate so she would have not been picking easy monsters. I've been assuming that the monsters will be keeping them busy while the Stick have been flying away from Tarquin, repairing the ship, visiting the Godsmoot and rushing off to the Dwarven Homelands.

Other potential delays could be this ritual to change the snarl's location that Xykon believes will let him control it could take a while to set up, or they have to wait for a specific time and date before starting it.

And also, they bought the Monster in the Darkness. That guy has an almost supernatural ability to screw up royally. Considering his history of being unable to see gates, they may have to be spending more time than anticipated leading him around the tomb.

martianmister

2015-12-19, 07:59 PM

Ṕówêrful Мóns̈têrs̈?

ti'esar

2015-12-19, 08:03 PM

I can't remember - has it been specified how long the ritual actually takes?

Haar

2015-12-19, 08:04 PM

If I remember correctly, the ritual Team Evil is trying to perform takes at least a week to complete. For all we know they could be there now.

torugo

2015-12-19, 08:08 PM

Dont you hate cellphone autocomplete? ;P

Ṕówêrful Мóns̈têrs̈?

Darth Paul

2015-12-19, 08:30 PM

Chiming in to agree; even though Xykon is an epic level sorceror, he has (most likely) multiple epic level monsters to deal with this time around. I seem to recall purple worms (note the plural) being mentioned in an earlier strip, and those would be just one among many defenses. So Team Evil may still be working their way toward the gate, and not even be ready to begin the ritual yet.

Porthos

2015-12-19, 08:36 PM

I can't remember - has it been specified how long the ritual actually takes?

"... and they're likely to get upset if we loiter in their throne room for the few weeks it will take to complete the ritual." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0416.html)

Peelee

2015-12-19, 08:39 PM

Ṕówêrful Мóns̈têrs̈?
I don't care what anyone else says, you won this thread.

Wildroses

2015-12-19, 08:40 PM

I thought of another possibility of delay. Back in 901 the Monster in the Darkness managed to convince Xykon the Order should be left alone as they were obviously the B team sent there to keep them busy, and they needed to rush to the final gate because obviously O-Chul was the dangerous one.

So maybe they've spent time searching the gate for O-Chul, who isn't there yet.

Come to think of it, when O-Chul and Lien arrive that could also be a delaying factor for Team Evil. Who will arrive first, the paladins or the Order? The Order I hope, O-Chul has a better chance of surviving this story if he has more people around him.

EDIT: Hmm. If the ritual takes several weeks to complete, and this is a world which story laws (including the one about the heroes arriving just in the nick of time) apply, then I think the Order may be stuck in the Dwarven Lands plotline for a couple of hours under several weeks.

ti'esar

2015-12-19, 09:22 PM

"... and they're likely to get upset if we loiter in their throne room for the few weeks it will take to complete the ritual." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0416.html)

Aha, I thought there was something like that somewhere. Thanks.

torugo

2015-12-19, 10:18 PM

I dont Know Many epic monsters...but i dont get serini as a competent halfling tô make a Good challenge. She looks like the elan of their party.

Jasdoif

2015-12-19, 10:24 PM

...but i dont get serini as a competent halfling tô make a Good challenge. She looks like the elan of their party.I don't see how these two statements are connected. After all, Tarquin was "the Elan" of his party, and he certainly seemed able to pose a challenge to the Order of the Stick.

torugo

2015-12-19, 10:31 PM

Takin is the leader of his party. Not the dumb naive one.

Jasdoif

2015-12-19, 10:45 PM

Takin is the leader of his party. Not the dumb naive one.Tarquin only thinks he's the leader, but that's comparatively trivial here. The important part: where exactly are you getting the idea that Serini is dumb or naive, much less both?

Darth Paul

2015-12-20, 09:05 AM

Serini, from the very very little that we've seen, might have been "the Heart" of her party- which would definitely make her the Elan of the group functionally. But we haven't really seen anything that would make us think she resembled our bard in any other way.

Onyavar

2015-12-20, 09:23 AM

Tarquin only thinks he's the leader, but that's comparatively trivial here. The important part: where exactly are you getting the idea that Serini is dumb or naive, much less both?

You know what? This is seriously cool, I always thought I was the only guy in these forums who believes that Vector is the evil mastermind of the Vector Legion, instead of Tarquin. Note how I don't call him SPG anymore.

lenon3579

2015-12-20, 10:42 AM

Dont you hate cellphone autocomplete? ;P

Tô só no purê, bê. [I'm eating only puree, B.]

I take from your cellphone choice of words that you are from Brazil. Am I right?

[And yes, I laughted a lot with the "purê speculation time" ("puree speculation time")]

Wildroses

2015-12-21, 04:34 AM

I'm can't see why we're talking about Serini at all, and I'm the one who first bought her up. As far as I can see, my statement "Serini knew she would not be personally there to protect the gate so she would have not been picking easy monsters" was assumed to be implying: "Serini can totally have destroyed Xykon and Redcloak if she was personally protecting the gate" which it totally wasn't. I was trying to get across Serini was planning those monsters to be the first and only line of defense. I'm surprised anybody thought I was trying to talk up her combat skills.

It's probably because I have zero experience of D&D, which makes me stick out here. I don't automatically imagine characters with a bunch of statistics and a finite list of abilities before instantly calculating the likelihood of success in battles with certain monsters/other characters, but most of the people here seem to do that as easily and unthinkingly as breathing.

More on topic, I don't think Serini is going to be holding Team Evil up at the gate because I think she's long dead. The surviving five Scribble members are all dead of old age or at Xykon's hands, and we do know Xykon has her diary.

luagha

2015-12-21, 10:44 AM

Cazero

2015-12-21, 11:41 AM

I think that the power of "this ritual needs two weeks of casting" is more than enough, and it's also the only one that would make sense. Xykon can trivialy bypass most of the non-intelligent monsters guarding the gate and probably let them in place to serve as his own defense against intrusion.

Vinsfeld

2015-12-21, 02:02 PM

Tô só no purê, bê. [I'm eating only puree, B.]

I take from your cellphone choice of words that you are from Brazil. Am I right?

[And yes, I laughted a lot with the "purê speculation time" ("puree speculation time")]

My thought exactly.

I laughed when I read the "Tô só no purê, bê".

Ruck

2015-12-21, 06:59 PM

"Holding them up" by what measure, though? We haven't checked on them at all since they departed for the final gate. We have no idea what they're up to or how they're doing. They may or may not be held up at all.

The strips aren't running chronologically, given that the cut from the Godsmoot to the Mechane in 1012 seemed to go several minutes into the past.

All we know is that the Giant hasn't felt it's important for the story to check on them yet.

DaggerPen

2015-12-21, 07:52 PM

Ṕówêrful Мóns̈têrs̈?

*muffled laughter*

But, uh, anyway, given that the ritual does take weeks, I don't expect Team Evil to be anywhere near completion yet. I wouldn't be at all surprised, actually, if the defeat of Durkula and triumph immediately cuts away to a beaten up Team Evil reaching the last Gate with some sort of "FINALLY" type deal.

blunk

2015-12-22, 02:59 AM

Ṕówêrful Мóns̈têrs̈?Remember when they got kicked off the tour with Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, and Deathtöngue for being too "avant garde"?

Peelee

2015-12-22, 10:10 AM

Remember when they got kicked off the tour with Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, and Deathtöngue for being too "avant garde"?

You forgot that Spın̈al Tap provided the opening act. After the puppet show, of course.

LordRahl6

2015-12-22, 10:48 AM

Maybe, Team Evil's scouring the desert for anything that's left of the Draketooth clan's hold.:smallwink:

Kish

2015-12-22, 02:40 PM

Doubtful (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0901.html)..

KorvinStarmast

2015-12-22, 04:04 PM

Maybe they are waiting for Xykon (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html)to regrow his leg bones (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0901.html).

When last we saw him, he was just finding his pelvis and re attaching it in correct orientation.

PersonofJid

2016-01-06, 05:58 PM

More on topic, I don't think Serini is going to be holding Team Evil up at the gate because I think she's long dead. The surviving five Scribble members are all dead of old age or at Xykon's hands, and we do know Xykon has her diary.

Well, the possibility of Serini being alive and holding up Team Evil isn't a far-fetched claim, actually. Assuming that the comic follows D&D lifespans for halflings like it does for elves then Serini could easily have another century or so before she kicks it due to old age.

We also know that she, like the other Scribble members, has a device that lets her know if the other gates are still intact or not, and we know that Girard's spell in strip #695 will have warned her that someone is actively looking for the gates. Assuming she puts two and two together, that will have given her some time to prepare her defenses against someone who is powerful enough to defeat her former teammates.

Also it's important to note that it's only Xykon, Redcloak, and TMITD that are going to the gate. With all the other gates they had their lackeys to help fight whatever was there. If Serini is rounding up the biggest, toughest monsters there are, then it could take some time for just the three of them to beat them all.

Lvl 2 Expert

2016-01-07, 05:08 AM

I figure the NPC party at least knows Xykon could be coming, as Hinjo was in a real hurry to do something (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0865.html) when he heard about the fall of the resistance and Xykon being on the move, and I figure "tell my paladins about it so they can be ready" is on top of that something list. While I doubt they could hold Team Evil off for long by themselves they might be able to manipulate the dungeon, setting monsters free at the right moments and stuff like that.

Renegade Paladin

2016-01-10, 11:00 PM

>> Só what power could bê keeping them this entire ark?

Keep in mind that every time Xykon dies, it takes a week or so for him to reform.

If he dies, then he reforms at the phylactery, and there could be some confusion as to where that is.

If he dies and reforms at Redcloak instead of at his Astral Stronghold, there might be some fireworks.
Of course, if he does that then he's completely at Redcloak's mercy while he reforms, and I can't imagine that would go any way other than dead Xykon if Xykon has a reason to kill Redcloak when he finishes regenerating.

Ruck

2016-01-12, 04:05 AM

Lvl 2 Expert

2016-01-12, 06:37 AM

They'd been trying to reach the order for 3 hours, so it's likely that team paladin only had about that long between them getting the message and Xykon arriving (minus his legs).

Mad Humanist

2016-01-12, 05:19 PM

Of course, if he does that then he's completely at Redcloak's mercy while he reforms, and I can't imagine that would go any way other than dead Xykon if Xykon has a reason to kill Redcloak when he finishes regenerating.

We know Redcloak swapped the phylacteries, so that the dummy is in Xykon's special hiding place in limbo. So at the moment there is no way that hiding place could be plot significant. I feel a plot twist over the phylacteries is coming but I don't quite see it. Or perhaps Xykon will run there anyway without being reduced to his phylactery.

Crusher

2016-01-12, 05:40 PM

"... and they're likely to get upset if we loiter in their throne room for the few weeks it will take to complete the ritual." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0416.html)

Well, that comic just says that Xykon *thinks* the ritual will take a few weeks. Considering months later he had Tsukiko analyzing the other half of the ritual trying to figure it out and we know that Red Cloak hasn't been entirely truthful with Xykon regarding the ritual, I'm not sure we can take Xykon's opinion for fact.

Anyone know of anywhere else its been referenced?

Doctor West

2016-01-13, 06:54 AM

I'm not seeing how it could possibly help Redcloak to lie about the duration of a ritual that he's counting on Xykon to perform the arcane half of. If he even could, considering he's already given him the arcane half.

littlebum2002

2016-01-13, 02:36 PM

Well, that comic just says that Xykon *thinks* the ritual will take a few weeks. Considering months later he had Tsukiko analyzing the other half of the ritual trying to figure it out and we know that Red Cloak hasn't been entirely truthful with Xykon regarding the ritual, I'm not sure we can take Xykon's opinion for fact.

Anyone know of anywhere else its been referenced?

So Redcloak lied about the length of the ritual so that Xykon figures out even earlier that he's been lied to? Redcloak seems smarter than that.

Kish

2016-01-13, 02:55 PM

It's possible Redcloak is counting on Xykon getting to the end of the first page of the ritual and getting smashed by the Dark One before he realizes that what he's done is what is necessary and sufficient to give away control of the Gates and the rest of the ritual is a spell to make hair grow.

I kind of doubt it, though.

Cazero

2016-01-16, 03:21 PM

Well, that comic just says that Xykon *thinks* the ritual will take a few weeks. Considering months later he had Tsukiko analyzing the other half of the ritual trying to figure it out and we know that Red Cloak hasn't been entirely truthful with Xykon regarding the ritual, I'm not sure we can take Xykon's opinion for fact.

Anyone know of anywhere else its been referenced?

Or maybe the ritual in question requires a nice, clean, stable, sealed rift. As in a gate.
Not an ever expanding, unstable, creepy, unsealed rift. Don't poke that.

goodpeople25

2016-01-16, 04:15 PM

Or maybe the ritual in question requires a nice, clean, stable, sealed rift. As in a gate.
Not an ever expanding, unstable, creepy, unsealed rift. Don't poke that.
Well yeah we already knew that, they didn't even try the ritual once Miko did her thing, Xykon just had someone who actually could check the ritual, thus took the opportunity to see if Redcloak was telling the truth.